AF and Co: SHINee'fied
by wrr0rzxpurrt
Summary: A collection of SHINee songfics. Previously titled ROMEO AND JULIETTE
1. Romeo and Juliette

_**(Ahem. This is very long.)**_

_**Romeo + Juliette (or Boy Meets Girl) fanmade MV with English translation:**_ _**.com/watch?v=NTFXbAvklu8 **_

"I'll see you in a few days, then." Her voice. It's happy, cheery - optimistic. Casual. Those words… they're just that – words. Of no importance.

"Yeah, sure." They matter to him, though.

Those words mean that he'll have to wait to see her again. Wait for her.

He will.

Days pass; he waits. _Patience._

_~This painful love story has chilled my heart  
>~I give another short sigh at this love I've come to hate<br>~It leaves only my gasping breath,  
>~becoming distant,<br>~becoming faint_

*~{}~*

She's pretty, _he had thought upon first sight. It was a quick revelation that cropped up in the corners of his mind and then dispersed just as suddenly. He explained it through one word – puberty – and that was that. He didn't analyze any further. He couldn't bring himself to care enough._

_~A girl meets a boy and begins a painful love_

_This small detail, this small acknowledgement of another's beauty, human or not, meant nothing. Who cared if this creature was pretty? Who cared about this creature?_

_~Their unspeakable love becomes an echo and love starts again_

_He didn't. It wasn't like he could've acted upon any arising feelings, anyway. She was, after all, merely a creature, he a human. In fact, he almost felt sorry for it._

Sorry that I had to drag you into this, _he apologized to the creature. In his head, of course; it would be unbecoming if he had said it aloud. This moment of weakness, even though it had been unseen by others, pinched at his heart. He hid it with a sharp command to Butler._

"_Move out."_

*~{}~*_  
><em> 

_~I really love her  
>~I really want her<br>~I really hate myself  
>~Because I can only see her from afar<em>

Artemis runs his fingers, long and slender, over his hair. The action is pointless; detrimental, even. He had already gelled it back this morning. He shouldn't even be nervous. It's just Holly.

_Just Holly, my friend._

_~My heart cries, yearning to say more  
>~and another day passes by in sadness<br>~with only the memories of my love,  
>~of being unnecessarily selfish for you<em>

He opens the door. "Hi," he says lamely.

"Hi," she says back. Artemis finds himself hoping that his hair hasn't been mussed too much, even though this was just Holly.

"Come in." He shuffles aside awkwardly, feeling out-of-place and too big whilst standing next to her.

Holly hesitates. Artemis tries not to let his panic show. "Sorry, I can't. Not right now."

"Why not?" he blurts out. He wants to slap his hand over his own mouth. He wants to rewind to thirty seconds ago so that he can redo this whole encounter.

_~But now, I feel a little confused  
>~You don't know that you're my only boo<br>~I only look at you_

"I just came to pick up the… something-inator – whatever contraption Foaly left in your care a couple of days ago. And I can't stay. I'm going out tonight."

"Oh." _Going out? _

He hurriedly leaves to the confines of his study, retrieving the object. When he returns, he places the thing carefully in Holly's hands and, remembering himself, says, "With Trouble?"

He doesn't sound as nonchalant as he'd like.

"Uh, yeah," Holly says. She shoots him a quick smile. "I'll drop by again soon, mm?"

"Yeah, sure."

_~A love begins again  
>~You don't know me or my love for you<em>

His fingers tremble with the lock when he attempts to latch the door. It takes several unsuccessful tries until Juliet passes by and laughs, shoving him aside playfully as she clicks it shut for him.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Then he's alone again and he feels worse, ever worse.

_Wait. I'll wait some more. _  
><em><br>~I hate goodbyes  
>~I can't say that I love you<br>~Again, like a fool, I can't hold onto you  
>~I love you; I want to see you<em>

*~{}~*

_Your friends are left when your lover leaves. _

He'd be her friend and nothing more. If he became her lover, they could break up.

_I don't want you to leave me. _

So Artemis dials the number and lets the communicator ring, not intent on confessing any of his feelings anytime soon.

_~(I still don't know)  
>~I don't know love; I don't know heartbreak<br>~I still don't understand, but I know my heart wants you_

"Hello?"

_~Oh, my girl! Oh, my love!_

"Hi, Holly. How was your date?"

"It was fine."

"Oh. Cool," he says. The word feels foreign on his tongue, but the word 'cool' is… _cool. _Trouble's cool. Artemis isn't. Not really. He doesn't think he ever will be, but he's trying harder.

_~A painful love begins again  
>~I can't control these feelings that surge up when I see you<em>

"What'd you call for?"

"Just to say hi."

"Oh. Okay."

"What are you up to?"

"Nothing really."

"Anything interesting coming up?"

"Hmm… no, I don't think so."

"Huh. Okay."

"Yeah."

"I'll see you later, then?" It's his most animated sentence yet.

"Yeah, of course."

"Alright."

"Bye."

"Bye."

_Click. _

He hopes that she'd lied when she said that her date was fine.

_Don't love Trouble. Don't, please._

_~There's a cloud as pure as your eyes  
>~It's beautiful if we see it together<br>~The day the cloud turns into rain, we can no longer see it  
>~This inevitable consequence hits me at the bottom of my heart as it sinks<em>

*~{}~*

He imagines her on the other end of the line, hanging up and looking right into Trouble's face.

"Who was that?" Trouble would ask.

"Ah, just Artemis."

"Okay."

Maybe they were sitting on a couch together. Maybe they'd cuddle closer. Artemis feels a pang, and it echoes in rings.

_Rings of pain, clouds of pain. _

*~{}~*

_~Silently, I think about you  
>~I say to myself, "I like you."<em>

"Oh, hey, I was thinking that we could go to the movies tomorrow. I saw a great trailer the other day."

"Cool," Artemis says, licking his lips at the strange feeling the word leaves behind. He doesn't even ask what movie it is. _Until I find out, I can pretend._

_I'll pretend it's a romance._

_I'll pretend that Trouble doesn't exist and that it's just me and her and the movie and happiness and maybe even some hand-holding. _

Hand-holding used to perplex him. The notion of clasping another's appendage in his just for the purpose of telling the world that they were together seemed… pointless.

He hoped that Holly and Trouble didn't hold hands. Holly was his even if, really, she wasn't. Holly was his because he bloody well said so.

_~The echo responds, "No way."_

*~{}~*

It's a comedy. He doesn't mind. He likes how his awkward laugh sounds when Holly is laughing with him.

The movie is quite silly, quite simple. It's not complicated or clever, but he enjoys himself.

He only wants to reach out and hold her hand, but he doesn't.

"Bye," she tells him when she shields outside the theater.

"Bye," he whispers back.

_I'll see you soon. I'll be waiting for it – for you._

*~{}~*

They marry.

He doesn't go. He says he's sick and, really, he is.

They send him pictures and wish him well.

He doesn't feel well. He doesn't think he'll ever feel well again.

*~{}~*

_~Without you, my feelings are down  
>~I still believe that you'll come back<em>

_What's love, really? _Artemis asks himself as he sits in his study. To be honest, people only feel love because of the hormones that are procured in their minds. These hormones only exist to ensure that members of the human race would continue to mate with others and therefore continue to live on.

Humans are overpopulated, though.

It would be okay if just one person – for example, him – decided not to love. It would be okay if that one person made do without love.

_~I fall so deep in love with such a girl like you  
>~Don't think of me as just a boy<br>~Like a man, I want to be your lover, your love_

He didn't want this love.

He didn't choose this.

He had no say in the matter, though._  
><em> 

*~{}~*

__"Come in," he says, grinning through his tiredness. She obliges this time.

"How are you?" she asks as she steps through the frame, toeing off her shoes on the Persian rug. He kinda forgets that it's there for the time being, though. There's just her.

_~A love starts again  
>~You don't know me or my love for you<em>

"I'm fine. And you?"

"I'm fine," Holly replies. She doesn't look fine. She looks ecstatic.

"What's got you in a tizzy?"

Holly is going to explode. She is about to combust and her pieces will scatter like confetti in a breeze and sprinkle all over his front hall. He's sure of it.

"I'm pregnant!"  
><em><br>~A painful love starts again  
>~I can't control these feelings that surge up when I see you<em>

"That's… that's great!" His mind swims as he tries to think of something adequate to say. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"We don't know yet," Holly says. She looks a bit relieved. Perhaps she expected him to take the news badly.

He had.

She just didn't know.

*~{}~*

They talk. He laughs with her. He loves her laugh. She has to leave soon, though.

Leave to her husband, waiting dutifully for her. Leave him for another.

"I'll see you soon," she tells him.

"Yeah, sure." He seems to say that a lot these days.  
><em><br>~I hate goodbyes  
>~I can't say that I love you<br>~Again, like a fool, I can't hold onto you _

*~{}~*

_Happy birthday, _the card read. Trouble frowned down on it. He'd actually forgotten the event, much to his chagrin, so he simply shrugged it off and resolved to get Holly something nice on his way home from Police Plaza.

Trouble discarded it as he sidled out the door.

_~I love you; I want to see you_

*~{}~*

Some days – his sure, confident, hopeful days – Artemis feels that she's waiting, too. For him.

Not in quite the same way, though. It was almost as if she wanted him to confess something they both knew but wouldn't speak of.

He didn't fully get it, though. If she wanted him to say something, she should tell him that. There was no need to dance around it.

Girls were confusing.

He kept his mouth shut in case he had been mistaken after all.

*~{}~*

"Julius is six months old now," Holly informs him through the communicator. "He's still puny."

"Yeah, I miss the little guy." A white lie. The boy looks more like Trouble than he can handle. His heart gurgles from its position, buried somewhere near his stomach and probably drowning in digestive acids.

*~{}~*

Today, Artemis is feeling confident.

He walks outside and swallows in a big breath of fresh air. He knows why Holly likes it aboveground now.

He wonders if she will give up her position in the fairy community for this or… maybe… for him.

Probably not.

But he's feeling confident today, so he'll try to tell her. He'll try to win her already taken heart.

*~{}~*

"Holly?"

"Yeah?" she asks, chugging down a cup of orange juice.

_~Today, I will say that I love you  
>~I will make you love me<em>

"I… uh… like you."

"What?" She continues to drink, seemingly nonplussed.

"I like you." It sounds surer this time, but her response isn't any more positive.

"Well, yeah, that's kinda why we're friends," Holly says lightheartedly. They both know what he'd meant, though.

"Holly, you're not making this any easier," Artemis said, whining slightly despite himself.

Holly lets her glass clink against the table when she sets it down. "It's kinda too late for this, Artemis."

_~We met through much difficulty  
>~Even though you were waiting, I wasn't able to hold onto you<em>

"Why?"

She gives him a look.

"So…"

"So, because you were too much of a coward, I've been taken by someone else."

_Coward. _That hurt, just a bit.

He hates that the prospect of her love had been snatched under his nose because he had been too cowardly.

_Coward. I will not be one. _

_I refuse to._

_~And that old side of me vanishes_

"Okay then." Cool, calm, collected.

Square one.

"Will you—" Artemis stops. She can't go out with him. She's married. She has a child.

It _was_ a bit too late, wasn't it?

Holly sighs. "Whatever. I gotta get going." She stands, leaving the glass on the table. "Bye."__

_~A love starts again  
>~You don't know me or my love for you<em>

Artemis walks her to the door. He probably shouldn't've. Oh well.

He watches as she makes her way down the front walk. He doesn't know what to say, but she's leaving, anyway.

_~A painful love starts again_

"Bye," he says at last. He had responded several minutes too late. He probably shouldn't've. Oh well.

_~I can't control these feelings that surge up when I see you_

She doesn't seem to hear as she shields. He can't see her anymore. His heart pangs.

_~I hate goodbyes_

He had fallen in love with her. He probably shouldn't've.

_~I can't say that I love you_

Oh well.__

_~Again, like a fool, I can't hold onto you_

*~{}~*

"Hello?"

"Artemis?"

"Oh, Trouble! Hi. How are you?"

"I'm fine. And you?"

"Fine as well. Is Holly in?"

There's a muffled noise in the background, almost like a shout. The tone is aggressive, but the voice is obviously female. _That's her. _He knows it.

"No."

"Ah. Okay. Should I call later?"

Another muted yell. "Yeah, just call later. She's… uh… out shopping with some friends."

Artemis knows that Holly never shops with her friends. "Okay," he says.  
><em><br>~I love you; I want to see you_

*~{}~*

Artemis lies upon his bed, eyes trained on her picture. A rap sounds at his window. He turns warily and it's her.

He knew it would be.

His fingers work with the latch until the window slides open.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"What are you doing here?"

"What are _you _doing here?"

A pause. "This is my house."

"I know."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I came to see Juliet."

"Oh." He steps aside. He should've known.

He keeps watching as she walks down the hall.

_~(Love starts again)  
>~(Love starts again)<em>

*~{}~*

"You're a riot, Juliet. Seriously," Holly gasps, laughing. She pulls herself out from Juliet's room, cheeks red, smile plastered on face. "I gotta go now, though. Show me that one some other time, yeah?"

"Yeah, of course! You'll love it. It's high definition," the blonde adds. She's grinning, too.

Artemis goes over to the window in his room and unlatches it. Holly just walks right past him and slips through. She opens her arms wide and allows her body to just fall forward. Artemis watches as she swoops down and then glides right back up.

_Like a bird. _

_Like a kite._

_~This painful love story has chilled my heart  
>~I give another short sigh at this love I've come to hate<br>~It leaves only my gasping breath, becoming distant, becoming faint_

*~{}~*

"Oh… Artemis. You came."

"You're sick."

"I still didn't expect you to come, really."

"… Well, I did."

"How are you?" A hacking cough.

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm… ah… I'm fine."

"Seriously, Holly."

"I'm _fine._"

"Is there any way I can be of service to you? Fluff your pillow? Fetch you soup?"

"Nah."

"Are you sure?"

"_Yes, _Arty, I'm _sure._"

"Ah… okay." A pause. "I'll stay here, then."

"Mm?"

"I'll stay here with you."

"Okay."__

_~(Love starts again)  
>~(Love starts again)<em>

*~{}~*

"_Holly?"_

_~A girl meets a boy_

"_Yeah?" _

"_I… uh… like you."_

_~And begins a painful love_

_Her heart flutters. She tramples it down._ _"What?"_

"_I like you."_

_~Their unspeakable love becomes an echo and love starts again_

"_Well, yeah, that's kinda why we're friends," she jokes. It doesn't lighten the mood any._

_~(I hate goodbyes)_

"_Holly, you're not making this any easier."_

"_It's kinda too late for this, Artemis."_

_~(I hate goodbyes)_

_His face falls. She knows that he knows that he should've expected this. But he's still heartbroken._

_There's nothing she can do about that._

_What's done is done, after all._

_~(I hate goodbyes)_

_She leaves soon after. _

_She can feel his eyes on her retreating back._

_~(I hate goodbyes)_

*~{}~*

"Hey… you know I like you, right?"

"You just had to make this more awkward, didn't you?"

A dry chuckle. "Yeah."

_~Darling, there are more things that I want to say_

Silence.

_~but knowing that they will never reach you hurts my heart_

"I lied."

"What?"

_~Heartache, heartache, heartache_

"I love you."

"You're crazy."

"Yeah."

Artemis fidgets in the chair beside Holly's bed. "What do the doctors say?"

"They don't know what's wrong with me. It's like nothing they've ever seen before."

"Oh."

"You should probably give up on me. I'll end up dying."

_~"Will you come to me? Lean on me?"_

"Oh." He stared at the opposite wall.

She could see his mind churning.  
><em><br>_"Can I see your status report?"

"No, only direct family members are allowed to."

"Oh." He sighs.  
><em><br>~I lay these worries aside_

A nurse pokes her head in. "Er, Mr. Kelp wishes to see her right now, so could you just –"

"Yeah, okay," Artemis says quickly, interrupting her words. He stands up, mindful of the ceiling, and exits.__

_~Get rid of this foolishness, erase it  
>~P.S. I want to hear her voice just one more time<em>

When the invitation to Mrs. Holly Short Kelp's funeral comes some days later, Artemis finds himself wishing that he hadn't left that room.__

_~I, I love you_

*~{}~*

"I'll see you in a few days, then," Artemis says, pulling on his coat.

Juliet grins down at him – she's a bit taller than he is. "Yeah, sure."

These words mean that it'll be awhile until she'll see him again. But that's okay. She'll wait for him.

Days pass; she waits. _Patience._

_**SQUEEEEE MINHO~**_

_**Ah, that's out of my system now. Ahem. **_

_**SOME NOTES:**_

_**First of all, this took **_**freaking**_** forever. I will not go through the entire process. It shall pain me. Greatly.**_

_**Okay, the translation. ACHHH. I cross-referenced **_**eight **_**different website and **_**three **_**YouTube videos to get the most grammatically correct version possible. If I didn't love this song, I'm sure I would've rage-quitted and promptly spazzed beyond the point of no return. **_

_**I don't know when I started this. Two weeks ago? Three? My internal clock is haywire, actually. Don't trust anything I say. *flails***_

_**I don't even know how this came to be. It's so LONG. AIYAAA.**_

_***keyboard smash***_

_***rage-quit***_

_**YOU GUYS BETTER LOVE THIS. YOU BETTER CHERISH IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE AND PRINT IT OUT AND KEEP IT IN A SPECIAL FOLDER ON A PEDESTAL IN THE VERY CENTER OF YOUR ROOM – (In My Room – SHINee)**_

_**Actually, don't. That's kinda creepy.**_

_**BUT YOU BETTER EFFIN' REVIEW. OR THINGS'LL GET **_**UGLY. **_**(Ugly – 2NE1)**_

_**ACH. I AM POSTING THIS EVERYWHERE I CAN 'CAUSE I NEED LOVE HERE. PLEASE.**_

_**Will be edited later if I feel like it.**_


	2. Quasimodo

_**I just really wanted more viewers…**_

_**Quasimodo by SHINee. It's so, so prettiful – here's the link: **_http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=gJHuvb3qyQs _  
>~Your traces that my heart is filled with<br>~Allow me to breathe_

Plain. Boring. _Monotonous. _He thanked his boorish counterpart's vocabulary – _yes, that's what it was – _and scattered punches across the walls.

His hands ached. _Excellent._

He ran in circles, panicked, before collapsing once more. He stared up at the ceiling, which had always been the same color as the walls around him. There was an absence of things here, a blankness that drained one's energy.

It wasn't enough after he'd seen so much more, even in those few brief hours. It was never enough.

_Can't miss what you've never had, but once you've had it, there's no going back._

_~When the long night is colored by the moonlight  
>~Will the inescapable wait all end?<em>

_I should probably die. _He hummed. Yes.

_Die in the empty recesses of his mind. Ha, I bet he'd like that. No more "voices" in his head. I'm an alter ego, not just a voice. I have feelings._

_He should know. Supposed genius._

_~I wish for a miracle and ask and answer myself_

A haughty sniffle permeates the air, and then it is snuffled out once more. _No one cares. No one cares about Orion. Save Artemis, keep Artemis, kill Orion off. Orion is… invading Artemis' mind. _

_And he's insane. At the end of the day, Orion most certainly is insane._

_~Oh, I can't tell you about me, who wants to reach your heart  
>~Like the starlight hidden behind the cold clouds<em>

"Arty?"

He sits up instantly. Though he was bound by these blank-plain-boring-_monotonous _walls, he could still see her through the eyes of the hunter; hear her lilting tones through the other's ears.

_~I love you_

_If you were only speaking to me and not hi,; for I am here. _

_I will, after all this time and through all this strife, still be here._

_~In the end, this painful confession that lingers at the edge of my lips  
>~Slides down in tears<em>

_Not like I can go anywhere, mm?_ When something wet trails down his face, he pays the sensation no heed. He was used to it by now. _Whatever._

_~This arrow that's reached my heart  
>~Feels like a part of my body now<em>

And now, here – from the other side of the screen, where he could not reach – the corners of her mouth upturned and she laughed. He gasped – _why didn't she laugh around him?_ – pressing his hands desperately-_longingly_-reverently against the screen before him, his only window and link.  
><em><br>~Even though it hurts to death  
>~I can't remove you, who's stuck in my heart<em>

His color.

It painted his imaginary world and he loved that world dearly. It was a nonexistent kingdom where nobles (who most certainly weren't out-of-date) carried princesses up stairwells and sunsets existed to signal a close, an ending. A happy ending – it was required.

_Every day has an end._

_Yet, every day also has a beginning. The sun will always, always rise._

_~Because it's love  
>~Because, for me, it's love<br>_  
>He wonders all the time about her. Would she ever reciprocate?<p>

Probably not. He was Orion. Insane, insane Orion. He liked that, but evidently, she didn't.

_~Even if I can't have you, even when my heart  
>~Is blocked in the end by the wall of sad connection<br>~I love you, though I can only watch you from here  
>~Because you're my everything <em>

Would she love him if he acted more like Artemis?

If he changed?__

_~I stay up for so many nights  
>~While the starlight becomes rain that doesn't stop<br>~Like my tears  
>~Remember that I loved you<em>

Could he change?

_He would. If he could._

_But he can't. Can't and couldn't._

_Save Artemis, keep Artemis, kill Orion off. Orion is insane. _Orion _is insane. Orion is… _insane. _Orion _is _insane._

_~Even if I can't have you, even when my heart  
>~Is blocked in the end by the wall of sad connection<em>

_So they worked on his death. He knew that._

_Time was running short like a 500-yard sprint in track, going long like a linebacker on the football field, cutting off like a rope bridge, and restarting…_

_But it never stopped. Time never stops. _

_~I love you  
>~Though I can only watch you from here<br>~Because you're my everything_

Artemis' eyes fluttered open to see Dr. Argon hovering above him with an oversized syringe clenched tightly in one fairy-sized fist. The lights had been turned on, but outside, it was still dark. "Ah, Mr. Fowl! You're awake."

"Fascinating, Argon. Tell me something I don't know."

_Would it hurt to be nicer?_

_Why does Holly like you? Holly shouldn't like you._

_She deserves more._

_~Even if I can't have you, even when my heart (I need you)  
>~Is blocked in the end by the wall of sad connection,<em>

Argon flustered and straightened his lab coat, almost dropping the syringe in the process. "My apologies. I've finished the chemical formula, though, and you told me to administer the drug as soon as possible."

A relieved smile ran across Artemis' face, and he offered his arm to the pixie.

"Alright, Mr. Fowl. This may –"

"Just do it!"

_~(I am trying not to cry over you, baby)  
>~I love you, though I can only watch you<br>~(I love you, I love you)  
>~Because you're my everything<em>

Dr. Argon's brows furrowed as he carefully inserted the needle into a vein. He emptied the syringe quickly, pushing the gelatinous fluid into Artemis' bloodstream.

Orion experienced a quick tug, then a drowning sensation.

_The defeated, the hopeless, the man that lay on the ground, unconscious, heartbeat faint and unsteady. His blood would bubble up slowly as his chest heaved, fighting for air. His fingers would clench, try to move, try to fight when it was all too late. He, Orion, was one of them now._

He was being drained. He was being pulled in too many directions.

_Orion the warrior… he's grown old at the age of fifteen. He can fight no more, see no more battles. Orion the knight, felled like a tree._

_~It's not tough, oh no  
>~Because you have to be mine<br>~In order for you to be you_

_I haven't been loved yet… I haven't had my chance._

_Don't I get a chance?_

Something lodged its way into his windpipe and the lack of oxygen made him feel dizzy.

_Spots dance behind closed eyes. Mocking, malicious. Everything flashes._

_White…_

_Black…_

_But no color. _

_No more color._

_No more Holly. I will never see Holly again._

_Just nothing…_

_~Even if it hurts  
>~Even if you make me cry<br>~I love you_

That day, to him, the sun did not rise, for he could see it no more. He did not reside in his cell.

He did not reside anywhere.

Blank, plain, boring, monotonous_. _Even more so without the insanity and undiluted love that had once painted it, once painted it colors.

_Pink-green-orange-yellow fades into white. Just white. _

_Pure. Calm. Sane._

_Blank. Plain. Boring._

_Monotonous._

_**^^ Is it as prettiful as the song? … No?**_

_**Well, I understand the song's very pretty, so –**_

_**Oh? You don't think it's pretty at all? **_

… _***sulk***_


	3. Obsession

_**Heya~ **_

_**By now, most of you seem to be under the impression that I am severely depressed from my writing. Don't worry. I DO write happy stuff. **_

_… ***checks prof***_

_**Well, you wouldn't really be able to tell here, but I promise that I'm nice ^^ I don't bite. **_

_**13% of the time. XD**_

_**Obsession by SHINee: **_http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=cMoletZjJmY

_~My hands tremble more__  
><em>_~I'll lose my focus shortly_

Holly quirked a brow, inquisitive. "This is getting quite awkward," she said, grinning.

Artemis laughed nervously. "Yeah. Guess it is." _You messed up, _he told himself.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you liked me."

_~Why are my broken legs standing here_  
><em>~I can't even remember<em>  
><em>~I become scared<em>

_He could say it now, but he didn't. Change tactics; revert to plan F._ He shook his head and attempted to roll his eyes, but he felt as if the movement wasn't as fluid as it should've been. Could she tell he was trembling or was he just overthinking things? "Holly, we're friends."

She tossed her hair back, smile still in place. _The smile means you're safe. Safe for now. It's the quiet before the storm. _"You know what I meant, Arty."

He shook his head and averted his gaze, forcing a smile.

_~Where are you; who was laughing until just now?_  
><em>~(Why)<em>_  
><em>_~Have fun noises left me? You're far away_

Silence reigned. Minutes slid past. Artemis lifted a hand and scratched the back of his neck. Holly licked her lips, scrounging for a topic. When she found none, she checked the time. Every movement seemed to have been calculated beforehand, as if they were cautious around each other. Which was ridiculous. Right?

Artemis' social awkwardness seemed to have solidified into an object that dug into his side. His breathing would catch and hitch; the uncertainty unnerved him.

And around them, the wind would only whisper. Promising? Ridiculing? Guiding?

_Pushing them away. Away from the calm garden, perhaps from each other. _

Was nature against him? Most probably not. Did he feel it to be so?

Yes, yes. The ache in his side intensified, burning afresh.

_~(Why)_  
><em>~Is it getting dim?<em>  
><em>~These scars are like shackles<em>

He couldn't deal with this. Love sucked, didn't it?

It did.

_Right?_

"It's getting late," he said at last. Artemis stood up, wondering if he should offer his hand out. _One last try, one last go. _

Holly rose. She had made his decision for him – _without even trying; how did she do it?_

_~Curse me, curse me for letting go__  
><em>_~My collapsed heart is screaming__  
><em>_~Don't throw me away, don't leave me alone_

_Oh well. _Artemis shifted from foot to foot, attempting to shove his hands into his pockets. He missed and fumbled about before letting his arms drape at his sides. From his vantage point, two and a half feet above Holly, she seemed so small. Insignificant.

But she was fierce, and he appreciated that about her. And she'd stirred something in him that no one else could – that was something in itself.

"Goodnight, Holly."

"'Night," she muttered. The elf shielded swiftly. Curtly? Brusquely?

_Perhaps she wishes to leave._

_But she'll come back…_

_~Want you, I want you like crazy_  
><em>~Your lips that left me shouldn't love me<em>  
><em>~Don't love me, I threw you away<em>

Artemis was a coward.

_It's easier this way, _he told himself. _Easier if you're to face rejection, look it in the eye like a soldier. March on._

_You're not a soldier, Artemis._

He knew she took her shower at six fifteen, so he called then.

_~I've only ever wanted to give you my love__  
><em>_~I didn't know that too much of it would strangle you__  
><em>_~These days, I'm torn from my wounded heart_

She had responded by seven.

_She wouldn't be coming back anymore._

_~A love has lost its way; I fill up__  
><em>_~With tears…_

*~{Day After}~*

A knock sounded on the door. Artemis gave himself several seconds to steel himself before lifting his head. "Yes?"

"Arty… it's time to eat."

"Oh."

A weighted pause, then: "Shall we wait downstairs?"

"No. Proceed without me."

_~(Why)__  
><em>_~Is it that I still only bring out sad hellos__  
><em>_~(Why)__  
><em>_~Just until today, don't push me away_

*~{Three Months After}~*

Perhaps he did make the atmosphere about him gloomy. He couldn't help it. He was wasted.

_Waste of time, waste of space, a waste…_

_Trash. Garbage. So useless._

_Such a burden._

_~Curse me, curse me for letting go__  
><em>_~My collapsed heart is screaming__  
><em>_~Don't throw me away, don't leave me alone_

*~{Nine Months After}~*

_Persistent… all Fowls were. Why wasn't he? When did he give up, stop trying?_

_Why did he stop?_

_Or… or why should he go on?_

_~Want you, I want you like crazy_  
><em>~Your lips that left me shouldn't love<em>  
><em>~Don't love me, I threw you away<em>

*~{Two Years After}~*

What mattered to them didn't matter to him. Not nearly as much. The toilet's malfunction was so minor, so trivial. Who cared of it? They did. They had sent for someone to repair it.

He didn't care. He'd use the other toilets. The event did nothing to change his ways.

He focused on other things – small details, small moments of happiness. He hadn't savored them and now he didn't have them. He couldn't remember, couldn't bring himself to care or do anything about it. He spent too much time hoping, wishing, thinking, and losing himself.

Fairytales… they really were wonderful. He understood Orion, understood his ways and why his counterpart loved the stories so.

It was him who'd been wrong. He'd missed all that was important.

_Right?_

_Yes._

He meant it.

_~I hope that you'll catch on__  
><em>_~That I'm a different you__  
><em>_~I even embrace your__  
><em>_~Nightmare from last night__  
><em>_~Don't let go of my hand_

Holly fidgeted as No1, disguised as a human clad in blue overalls, approached the Fowls' front door. The demon set down his "plumbing kit" and rang the doorbell confidently.

_Works out best this way, _she told herself._ You'll alleviate his pain._

_And yours will grow. That's a side factor._

_Oh well, right? No plan is perfect._

_~Curse me, curse me for letting go__  
><em>_~My collapsed heart is screaming__  
><em>_~Don't throw me away, don't leave me alone_

Holly counted, breathing fast and shallow. She lost track several times.

No1 soon emerged from the house, safe. "Let's go," he said.

_~Want you, I want you like crazy_  
><em>~Your lips that left me shouldn't love<em>  
><em>~Don't love me, I threw you away<em>

The group was led into the living room, where all seven inhabitants of the manor lay on the couches, stunned. Artemis Senior, Angeline, Juliet and Butler, the twins, and Artemis.

_~Your side, your side that has become cold__  
><em>_~Don't leave me, my torn heart__  
><em>_~Don't become even further away_

She took in his features, his expression once more. This wasn't the Artemis she knew, but the Artemis he'd become.

It'd been two years. Shouldn't he have moved on?

Truthfully, Holly didn't really want him to.

_~Although I'm holding your hand_  
><em>~Remember, end it, I can't forget you<em>

"Nice knowing you," she whispered.

She wiped his memory. The actions were simple, but the things that they brought on boggled the mind. Boggled the mind, ripped out her heart. _Crude. Painful._

_~I won't forget my pain of being thrown away_  
><em>~I can't forget it, you gave it to me<em>

Easier this way. _Coward._

_You're a coward, too._

_Cowards' love._

She smiled. It faded as she turned away, ready to return from whence she came.

_~Even the reason I love became a sin__  
><em>_~The deep wounds slowly__  
><em>_~Burnt up and turned to ash_

"I don't understand it," Artemis said, brow wrinkling in suspicion. "I've awakened to this malnourished state, and yet I haven't been kidnapped or mistreated. The only way I could explain it is if I said that I brought it upon myself, but I have no reason to do such a thing. What say you, Butler?"

"I don't know."

_No one knows. Or, more correctly, they don't remember. So lucky, so fortunate; now only I must forget. _Holly bites her lip and flies away from the window. She shouldn't've come in the first place – it reminded her of what could've been, what would never be.

_~But to forget will be more painful than to lose it_  
><em>~As I kill my breath, I'm going to die<em>  
><em>~From the agony of goodbye<em>  
><em>~Bring it back (To that moment)<em>

*~{Ages After}~*

"He insisted that he see you," Juliet murmured to the man in the cot. "I couldn't stop him."

Artemis frowned at the creature before him, for it couldn't be human. It was short, but with a full-grown beard, and its clothing was stained heavily with dirt. And it reeked.

Artemis fought the urge to cover his nose or request for a breathing mask. "Who are you?"

"'Ello, Arty-boy." The being grinned. "Happy birthday."

It dug into its coat pocket and offered up a coin of some sort. Very simple technology to Artemis, of course, but he hadn't a clue as to why this thing possessed it. So he asked.

And the stout little man only smiled. "Keep it. Watch it. Consider it… a gift."

"Thank you," Artemis said politely. He coughed harshly and the creature was ushered out.

_~Don't throw me away_

*~{And Days Later}~*

"Find him? Arty –"

"I don't care." Hacking ensued, rough and harsh. "Find him. And tell him I said thank you."

"Artemis…" Juliet grappled for words. She looked over at the man. He lay on his back, though his chest did not heave as it usually did after a bout of coughing.

She did not need to walk over and check for a pulse to know he was dead, but she did so anyway.

And Holly, from her position by the window, turned away. _So close. So close._

_He died knowing, but only because of Mulch. You stayed a coward 'til the end._

_Remembrance hurts. Cowardice hurts more._

She'd made a mistake. _Oh well. Can't fix it now. _

_She turned away again._

And their story overbalanced and fell over, too wounded to pick itself up.

_The end… the end… the end._

Holly wondered why her throat was so dry, why the air was so cold, crackling with tension.

_Why did her eyes sting so?_

_Why did her stomach hurt?_

_Why couldn't he come back?_

_***grins* Who caught my Fort Minor reference? Whoever finds the line gets a virtual cookie.**_


End file.
